


Something Old

by Turdle



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Bittersweet, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Gift Fic, Love, Marriage, Older Characters, Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-03
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-17 16:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/553373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turdle/pseuds/Turdle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: An Older Roy and Riza; Roy counsels Elysia when she needs it most.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Old

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Clewilan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clewilan/gifts).



> Climbingonroofs asked me to write something for Clewilan’s birthday! I was more than happy to write something. She said something about older Royai and I sort of ran with it. Happy Birthday!

When the last strand of salt and pepper hair was combed back from his eyes, Roy leaned away from the mirror for his wife’s approval, quirking a suggestive grey brow her way.

“How do I look—?” He asked, smiling.

Riza’s lips turned up at the edges, but she gave him a stern look, reaching forwards to grab his collar and turn it up under her fingers. “You still don’t know how to tie a bow tie…” She chided gently, fixing the bow by retying it and centering the knot under his throat. Roy swallowed, as she flipped his collar back down, and loosened the bow just enough for him to breathe properly. Riza leaned forwards, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she smoothed the lapels of his jacket, and stepped away to admire her handiwork.

“I know how,” Roy replied warmly. “-I just prefer when you do it.” 

“Of course you do.” Riza said, stepping forwards again quickly to fix his pocket square. When she was finished she gave herself a brisk nod, and clasped her purse shut, gently patting the holster under her skirt as a safety precaution. “You look very handsome. And you should probably get going. She’s probably ready for you now, and delaying this would not be ideal.” 

“I certainly felt nervous enough when I did this,” Roy countered, black eyes darting back to the mirror one last time, checking that his tuxedo was truly in order. Riza had leaned over to touch up her lipstick, and when she finished, she raised her brow at him. 

“What on earth were you worried about?” She said, tucking the lipstick away. There was something playful in her voice, and Roy couldn’t help but draw her in by her waist and rest his forehead against hers for a small dose of fortitude. “That’s easy,” Roy said, exhaling when she did. “-I thought I might forget to say when I saw you.”

The exasperation in Riza’s sigh wasn’t genuine, and the “ _Idiot_ ,” she breathed was more affectionate than anything else, so Roy laughed as she removed his hand from her waist. “Go get a move on. I’m going to sit down.” She directed as she shoved him towards the open adjacent dressing room across the hall. 

Roy craned his neck to watch his wife stride purposefully away, letting her round the corner of the hall before he turned around and rapped against the door frame. “Knock knock.” He called, wedging the door a little further open. He was greeted with relief spreading over Gracia’s face, blocking the view from the door. “Good, you look very sharp, Roy, I knew the suit would be a good choice…”

A younger voice cut off Gracia’s inspection of Roy’s attire, clear and anxious over Gracia’s warm steadiness. “ _-Uncle Roy?”_  

Gracia smiled softly, with a heavy sort of happiness that brought out a slight crinkle beside her eyes, and gave Roy a knowing look before she stepped aside, and wedged the door just wide enough to let Roy into the room. After a moment’s hesitation, she softly remarked, “I’m going to take a seat. I’ll let you two get ready.” 

The door snicked shut behind her, and Roy took a look at his best friend’s daughter, standing on a low pedestal in the center of the room. If he didn’t look too closely, there was hardly any difference between her and her mother, aside from Maes’ cat-green eyes reflecting back at him. Elysia’s face turned up with anxiety and worry, but she was still a lovely sight, just like her mother had been in the same dress. The wedding gown was a soft white that lit up her skin, and a little old-fashioned, but that had been how Elysia had wanted it. Her mother’s dress had only been altered for size, the rest was the spitting image of an old memory that danced in the back of Roy’s mind, floor length and covered in lace. Her veil was tucked into the graceful bun her mother had placed in her hair, and cascaded down the buttoned back of the dress. 

Roy smiled. 

“You look beautiful, Elysia.” He remarked truthfully, watching her avoid crumpling the lace of her dress by clasping her hands together as she fidgeted. 

“Do you think my dad would have liked Christopher?” She asked suddenly, as if he’d said nothing at all. 

“I do. Christopher is a wonderful young man.” 

“You’re not just saying that?” She pressed, shuffling in her white gown. 

“I would have said something if I didn’t like him.” Roy affirmed, stepping forwards towards his niece. 

What he didn’t expect in response was Elysia’s wet snuffling, her hands flying to her cheeks as she tried to prevent her tears from ruining her makeup. Roy fished a handkerchief from his pocket, and handed it to her as she shuddered to regain her composure. “Uncle Roy, you probably would have taken your gloves out.” Elysia said, daubing the cloth under her eyes with a shaky laugh. 

“Probably.” He agreed, taking back the kerchief when she was done. “But I thought that my gloves would be a little too obvious during the ceremony, so I decided to take one of these with me instead-” Roy reached under his cummerbund and pulled out one of Maes’ old throwing knives, letting Elysia view the blade before he tucked it back into the holding pocket he’d sewn in himself. 

Elysia giggled, shaking her head. “If he does anything funny, like leave me at the altar…”

“I have it on good authority that he already has a trained sniper and your mother watching his every move. But if you ever need any help, I’ll be here, and myself and Riza will take care of him for you.” 

She exhaled, straightening her shoulders, and looking at the mirror one last time. Roy wondered what she pictured as she did so, if she hoped to see a reflection of her mother’s face in her own wedding pictures, if she imagined her father in the other corner of the mirror, older and just as grey-haired as Roy was now. “Christopher loves me.” She said, assuring them both.

“I’ll give you that he has excellent taste in wonderful young women.”

At that, Elysia grinned, stepping down from the platform. “What did you tell my dad before he got married? My mother said I should ask you about it, since she wouldn’t tell me.” 

“Ah, I told him that I knew only one thing about love, and that was that it could never be something you half-assed.” Elysia gave a slight grin as she stepped closer, and nodded, listening intently. “It’s the one thing in this world that makes us as humans any good at the end of the day.” She was too young to really have been aware of what exactly had happened in the years that Bradley was overthrown, but the basics were there, and somehow, Elysia understood the sort of man her father was.

“I told him if he was really right about this, everything he did would prove it. Your father loved you and your mother more than anything, and  _never_  shut up about it. He was right. It took a long time before myself and Riza could act on it, but everything I ever did for her was how I came to love her. Everything she did for me. Whether she waited for me on the front porch for me to come home when we were teenagers, or I brought her coffee in the office, or she stood by me when I needed someone; you never forget that everything all together, all the little things, is what love is.” Roy extended a hand for Elysia, letting her take his before he hugged her gently, wondering how much harder this would be when it was his own daughter in a wedding dress. Thankfully, he hadn’t cried yet.

Elysia however, pressed her face against his shoulder, leaving delicate damp marks against the black of his jacket. “ _Oh_.”

“I suggest you carry a picture of him in your locket, along with your father’s picture.” Roy said ruefully, as he pulled away to help Elysia bring down her veil over her face, letting her wipe away the last of her tears again before white fluttered back over her face. 

“Thank you Uncle Roy. That really means a lot to me. I feel a bit better.” She said, plucking her bouquet off the side table, before she looped her arm through his. Elysia took in a deep breath, and rolled her shoulders back. Roy noted curiously, that Maes had once had this habit, and smiled to himself before he nodded. “…Did Aunt Riza really wait for you on a porch when you were teenagers?” 

“She did. She wore a yellow sundress, and was reading a book I had loaned her.” He nodded.

“I didn’t know that. That’s sweet. No wonder my dad thought you should get married.”

“I should have figured out I loved her then, when I look back at it. But life isn’t that simple, and I had more growing up to do. Be glad that you realized when you did.”

“At twenty-two?” 

“At just the right time.” Roy said, pulling the door open for them to walk down the back hall arm in arm as they prepared to grace the trip down the aisle. “That’s when I noticed.”

Elysia laughed softly, leaning against Roy’s shoulders. “Thank you for walking me down the aisle. I would have felt silly going alone, and I know it’s silly, and Aunt Riza did it but…”

“I’m glad you asked me to, Elysia.” Roy said gently, putting a hand over her arm in reassurance. “Are you ready to do this?” 

“Did you feel nervous when you waited for Aunt Riza?”

“More than I can say. But I never doubted anything.” 

Elysia stilled, nodded as she let his words sink, and an orchestra on the other side of the grand doors struck up in cue. “Then I think I’m ready.”

“Good. I think that’s our cue.”

* * *

It wasn’t until much later, during the reception and after Elysia’s dance with Roy as a stand-in for someone else, that Roy excused himself. The same rumpled handkerchief was brought to his eyes, while a soft voice from behind broke the silence.

“Allergies?” Riza asked, letting Roy hastily tuck the silk back into his pants pocket.

“I think it was the flowers in her bouquet.” He lied, giving his wife a small smile. She studied his face for a moment, and Roy knew that she understood why he wasn’t admitting to it. He never did, really. Riza inclined her head, and brought a hand to his jaw, leaning to kiss his cheek before she kissed him on the lips. 

“I told you too many flowers would irritate you.” She said quietly, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck. Roy sighed. “I know, I should have listened to you.” A smile curved his mouth and then he looked down at her, kissing her once more in the sort of manner that recalled too many clandestine moments and more passion than most people knew about.

His hands wrapped around the edges of her shawl, pulling her into the corner with him - fairly certain that neither of their children were going to go looking for them, that they had enough time to exclude the world from their embrace. When he finally pulled away with an impish look, Riza moved to rub her lipstick off his lips, attempting to give him a stern look that was more pleased than anything else. 

“What do you think about dancing?” Roy asked playfully.

“I think you’re incorrigible.” 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“If you want to dance with me Roy Mustang, you should know by now that I’m more than capable of following you in a waltz.” 

“You’d follow me anywhere.”

“You know I would.”


End file.
